The Business Realist
A dose of reality for a saner workplace
Company
Operating Principals
Simple acts, profound results
Visit our website for a complete description of our consulting services.
What's New
Downloads
Business Humor
My new book,
I'm Sorry I Broke Your Company, published by Berrett Koehler, will be available in January. Look for it in Barnes and
Noble and other book stores mid-January or order it from
Amazon now.
More Links
The business realist has moved onto other things.
It has been a while since I updated this site because I have moved onto better things. I have teamed up with two partners to form Operating Principals, a consulting company devoted to replacing onerous human resource policies and systems with practices that work.
While many companies complain that their biggest problems are the lack of innovation and employee engagement, what they don't realize is that their business practices create these problems. Incentive compensation based on goal achievement leaves no room for innovation, competency models promote mediocrity, and punishments and rewards prohibit collaboration. All these policies treat employees like self-interested, unthinking beings so that is what they create.
For more information, please visit the Operating Principals site and our blog. I will keep this site up because I still get many visits, especially to the download section with my cache of useful powerpoints.
Summary
Much of our time is spent on non-value adding activities. These reality checks will help you get results without the pointless effort.
Reality Checks
Steeped in processes, procedures, and methodologies, people often don't see how they can get the same results without all the work. It's like not seeing the forest for the trees.
Common Problems
Large initiatives often go awry due to some common problems that usually have little to do with the content of the issues being addressed.
Specific Initiatives
Innovation, Supply Chain, Process Reengineering, and New Product Development initiatives each have their own particular foibles.
Training
Much of our behavior is not governed by our logical mind. We persist in bad habits and unproductive behaviors despite knowing that they are harmful. It's not our logical mind at the controls; it's our subconscious mind calling the shots. Yet, the majority of our training is directed at our logical mind.
Coaching
True to my purpose of finding the easy way to change behavior, I use NLP (neurolinguistic programming) techniques to help you reach your goals. I don't use notebooks, logs, or require much in the way of self-discipline
Sanity Savers
Although we worry about the big issues, like meeting a project deadline or getting a software upgrade right, more often it's the little things that wear us down, like being overloaded with email, endless meetings that serve no purpose, conference calls that never reach a conclusion,.....
How to create a Creative Environment. Follow my 5 Rules to foster creativity without bean bag chairs.
Probably my most controversial ideas yet are on the state of human resource practices. Read the first of my series on the Maya of HR.
What's the trick to getting new products to market faster? I have a few. Check out my series on NPD (new product development.)
Got Ideas?
If
you have some ideas for articles, please drop me a note or
leave a comment. If you
have an article you'd like to contribute or link to, I
will be happy to publish your link and ensure that you get
attributed.
Featured Neologisms
About this site
The
Business Realist is a collection of articles on common
mistakes made during change initiatives with suggestions for
easier ways to achieving the same results. Getting real is
about thinking things through before blindly following a
methodology or embarking on the "initiative of the
month." The purpose of this site is to help create a saner
work environment for all.
Reality Checks
More Reality Checks
Sanity Savers
Training&Coaching
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Karen G. Phelan|A
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